One and the Same
by Frenzi99
Summary: A companion to 'A Twin for a Twin'. Sunstreaker POV focuses on how he befriends an organic or human by the name Skyler, of all things. What may seemed like a germ before, eventually earns to be his equal. Theme - Respect. One-shot.


**One and the Same **

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Transformers. Hasbro does. I only own my OCs Skyler and Steve (lightly mentioned here). I write this for my own enjoyment. If not, I'd be rich and not writing fanfiction. I don't own the quotes; they are shown to be owned by their respective owners. **

**Rating: T **(for swearing and violence)

**Genre:**Friendship

**Summary: **A companion to 'A Twin for a Twin'. Sunstreaker POV focuses on how he befriends an organic or human by the name Skyler, of all things. What may seemed like a germ before, eventually earns to be his equal. Theme - Respect

**A/N:** Well, this is a POV fic I did that summarizes/recaps my main fic a Twin for a Twin and is a challenge I'm taking a part of. Most of this takes place during the beginning of the war to about the end of chapter 10. So no worries if you haven't read my main fic.

This is less than 3000 words (which is the challenge limit), minus the quotes, title, A/N and summary. It is One-Shot (my first). Some parts are also taken from my main fic.

**_Words/Lingo (it and any other form) you should know:_**

Primus = refer as 'God' to Cybertronians

Spark = Heart

Mech = 'male' bot.

Pit = Hell

Slag, Scrap, Frag, Glitch = Cybertronian version of swear words

Offlined = dead

Sorry for the notes on the Words/Lingo. People who may wish to read this may be from other fandoms that they're not aware what Trans Fans are talking about as this fic is in a multiple genre fandom challenge.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>~ One and the Same ~<strong>

* * *

><p><em>"I speak to everyone in the same way,<em>

_whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university."_

_~ Albert Einstein_

* * *

><p><em><strong>.:: Cyberton, the beginning of the War::.<strong>_

_True Respect. _

There was an unfamiliar thought.

Perhaps this applied to everyone else except his twin brother, Sideswipe, his leader, the medic, and one or two other bots – but that was it.

Since the first days the he'd joined the ranks of the Autobots, the yellow mech was always seen by others as a self-centered and ruthless warrior. Everyone knew that the only things he cared about were his brother and himself. The way he treated others was the same, from a mini-bot to his own commander. He wasn't a bot of words or one for communications, which made him the natural sociopath, because the talking role belonged to his twin.

_Less talking, more action, and more fighting. _

That was _him_.

That easily earned his reputation being the most violent and cold-sparked bot on base. Sunstreaker couldn't care less what the others thought of him. More correctly, he didn't care about them. He was a proud warrior in his own right and didn't give a damn when it came to the lives he'd take from the Decepticons as long as he fulfilled the mission. It was that simple wasn't it? Get the mission done; get to the next one?

It was war; it wasn't supposed to be fair.

And as unfair as that war was, he never was treated with real respect by the Autobots.

Sunstreaker never asked for it.

Compassion and bonds were just nonexistent on the battlefield besides the one he had with his twin. One moment the soldiers around him are alive, in the next one hundred years they'd die by getting shot or worse offlined after being disintegrated. What was the point of getting to know another bot? _UGH._ Those were the other types of bots he loathed and wished they'd be burned to the Pit. Some of them just don't know what it meant about privacy. Sunstreaker hated when they'd try to prod too much, it wasn't like they knew how he felt about things, and they'd just assume they'd _know _everything. Most of them had only accepted him because he was useful, an asset to the Autobots in taking the difficult 'Cons down, and a 'Sweeper' to wipe enemies down. While others only regarded him with fear, loathing, and resentment to his very presence, Sunny had to admit that he was only there because he wanted the best for Sideswipe. If that reason was non-existent, he would have joined the 'Cons long ago.

The main point?

_No one cared. _

So he chose not to care about them.

All things, always go both ways.

_A punch in the faceplate, for a punch in the faceplate. _

It was basic logic.

For all he knew in his lifecycle, there wasn't anyone that would he consider an equal like his twin.

He knew there wasn't anyone on Cybertron who'd earn his reverence.

* * *

><p><em><strong>.:: Earth, Year 2010 (Present) ::.<strong>_

After years of being caught and tortured by the Decepticons, he finally broke free and escaped. Sunstreaker was now on his most important mission of all...

_He needed to find his only remaining family and twin brother – Sideswipe. _

Yet the fate Primus gave him seemed rather cruel to him for some idiotic glitching reason. It was only by chance he had gotten Optimus Prime's call from the planet Earth. What Sunstreaker didn't expect was the fact that the whole slagging planet was organic and _living_. Different from the sliver metallic surface of Cybertron, the whole planet was dirt, water, moisture, and organic _things_. All of that slag was an enemy, not only were they were rusting agents… his blazing shiny exterior would probably end up in disorder no matter how much he cleaned it.

_Landing on Earth was the same as going into a nest of insecticons. _

Still, he endured to only so he could find his brother. Only for Sides was he willing to through all the scrap in the universe.

_Of course it had to get slagging worse. _

_Frag you, Primus!_

The yellow mech was invisible to most Decepticon scanners, but was caught on sight by Dreadnought, a large tracker 'Con. Sunstreaker cursed himself; why he didn't think of using stealth mode. He blamed it on his torturers, why his processor wasn't functioning properly. A mech of Dreadnought's size and armor was more than Sunny could handle as earth's atmosphere blew most of his main protection shields. Landing buried him in organic mud; he only briefly scanned for an alt-form as a fast vehicle zoomed by that matched to his taste.

The fight on the surface of the dirt and fungi infested planet did come to his favor, but once the 'Con knew he was losing… he ran away.

To the front-liner warrior bot, it was a major blow to his pride in letting the enemy escape.

_SLAG YOU 'CON!_

_And…It didn't stop there…_

Feeling weak and tired after the battle, his systems gave up, and forced him into a conscious stasis in his alt-form/vehicle mode. His whole body couldn't move at all, but he was awake to see what was going on. Not too soon later, a fleshling came with a tow truck. The germ touched his exterior and added more scratches to his already mucked up hood. It wasn't even gentle at all as Sunny winced further as he was hooked to the fleshling's vehicle from his rear end. _Nooo! Damn you all to the Pit!_ It hurt his pride more than anything that he was dragged away in the most embarrassing position and he was helpless to do anything about it.

As much as he wanted to squish the organic and be done with it, his Prime had ordered should anyone head to Earth no 'human' or whatever the fleshling was called not to be harmed.

_I hate this stupid planet already._

Like Pit, these germs were going to get any respect from him. All they did was damage him.

* * *

><p><em><strong>.:: Earth, on the way to Kansas City, USA ::.<strong>_

So he kidnapped a fleshling since his navigation and communication systems were destroyed in the fight. This one particular human/fleshling he picked up was a trickster, thief, and hacker. The additional benefit? He did a decent paint job on his exterior since the fleshling had a job of a 'paint job man'. Sunstreaker reasoned it was the best sort of fleshling he could get for now as he wasn't looking for stupid organics who couldn't process their minds properly or yapping femmes. Feeling that there was something alive and living inside his interior disgusted him to no end.

_Again, Primus cursed him with bad luck. _

In fact, since the organic was very smart, the moment it had the opportunity… it _ran away_.

_SCRAP! _

Chasing it down was a hassle. In the end they both agreed to a deal, even though it was one sided as Sunny held the organic's laptop data as hostage.

That night, his closed spark-bond worsened as his twin tried to reach out for him through their closed bond. His systems shut down and forced him to a real stasis leaving him unconscious.

Sunstreaker swore at his misfortune.

At this point, no one at all, had such a thing as 'respect' in his optics now.

* * *

><p><em><strong>.:: Earth, City of Memphis, USA ::.<strong>_

Time went by as the unlikely pair were now reasonable with each other. To him, it was amazing the human didn't run off from him that night he fainted and they remedied their 'deal'. At first Sunstreaker complied with the human's request since Skyler was also looking for his twin brother who was missing. Then, the young human with brown hair and cobalt eyes managed to fulfill his bargain. He of all people found his twin, Sideswipe, through a video recording from a civilian during a Decepticon hunt after hours of searching through recordings of alien videos.

_His brother he had been so long searching for._

_Thank Primus, Sides is here! _

For that, the warrior bot was starting to trust the human.

Even if it was a little.

His pride wouldn't let him state aloud that he was starting to trust Skyler, but a bargain is a bargain.

Sunstreaker promised the human he'd find the human's twin with him.

* * *

><p><em><strong>.:: Earth, Springfield, USA ::.<strong>_

Things became more complicated as he spent time on Earth. To Sunny's surprise, the human he kidnapped defeated Soundwave in a hacker war two months before his landfall. At this rate, he knew Skyler was not going to get out of the deal easily, especially when Decepticons were involved. There was also Dreadnought tracking him down to deal with. Feeling that he was in unfamiliar territory, Sunstreaker planned with the human to take him down in the city of Springfield.

However, things have never gone smoothly for the frontline Autobot.

His spark acted violently just before the night of the hunt causing him to feel pain spasms through his entire frame. Skyler was reluctant to let him into battle, worried about him, but Sunny stubbornly made him keep to the plan.

The young con sighed in defeat. "If that's your wish, but promise me one thing."

"What's that?" Sunny asked tiredly, surprised the human was not telling him off about his current health state.

"It's a con family saying, Sunstreaker," Skyler said with conviction. "Just because we do things we do or need to do, it doesn't mean you need to do things alone or be alone. We're in it together; share the pain when you need to. You don't have to bear it alone." He paused making sure the bot could have some time to think on it clearly. "Tell me when you want to, if anything is wrong, alright? I'm here with an open mind."

Even after the human said that, Skyler didn't expect anything from him. The human gave him space if he wanted to tell his problem or not, which left Sunny utterly speechless.

Not even other Cybertronians gave him that besides Sideswipe.

Respecting his privacy and thoughts. More importantly, the human respected his pride as a warrior to complete the mission and didn't stop him from continuing with their hunt.

Yet the human was there, not talkative, but his presence was known, and acted upon whatever truly mattered.

For Sunstreaker, that was enough.

The hunt ended with Dreadnought offlined as Sunstreaker crushed his spark, even if at one moment Sunny had his own spark paralyzing him on spot only to be saved by the human. Nonetheless, it nearly gave him a spark attack after thinking Skyler had been shot dead by the 'Con. Soon after, he found out Skyler was alive after substituting dolls to fool their enemy. Sunny was not happy about it.

Sunstreaker shook his head with a sigh and pointed at the human. "NEXT TIME you will TELL ME."

"Alright, agreed," Skyler gave up. "I was worried about possible aftereffects, so I thought I should make some back up plans."

"You could have told me."

"Not when you were resting, Sunstreaker," Skyler said. "I don't take risks with people's lives after I get to know them. A con is a sure bet and I intend to keep it that way when someone's life is at stake."

Although Skyler didn't say it directly, the Autobot already translated his true intentions that he was prepared to save the lives of people he knew without a doubt. On the inside, Sunstreaker was proud that the human counted him as partner, perhaps friend or brother. He wasn't sure which, but this proved that the human he was traveling with had his own worth.

Funny thing is the human was just as stubborn as he was when it came to his own pride. Skyler had done it to protect both of their prides when it came to completing a mission or task successfully. Plus, the human seemed to understand that he'd only interfere when things got ugly without getting in the way of the warrior's role in taking down his enemy.

The reverence for Skyler was growing in Sunstreaker's spark.

* * *

><p><em><strong>.:: Earth, Kansas City, USA ::.<strong>_

Things turned for the worse when they reached their destination. They arrived too late at the industrial area where Skyler's brother Steve was being held hostage. All that was left were dead human bodies that were mutilated to bloody pieces and the buildings around burning. Shockingly, of all bots the one that took Steve away was the mech's twin Sideswipe. Sunstreaker wasn't sure what had actually transpired. Yet, he felt his own faction had been trying to find Skyler and Steve as the hackers that saved them from Soundwave's previous hacker war.

Skyler was distraught when he found out he had failed to get to his twin. The mech was not unaffected by it, as it was a reminder of his own mistake eons ago that was his own failure to reunite with Sideswipe. With a bit of assurance, Sunny had managed to push the human in getting to leave the area.

Still, fate as ever wasn't fond of Sunny… their exit was blocked by soldiers from NEST and something they did not expect, Ironhide (the Autobot's Weapons Specialist) was there. Both he and the human agreed to the plan that they were going undercover to get to Steve away from both the Autobots and Decepticons. It was so that Sunstreaker was still thought dead by Soundwave.

Sunstreaker feared that things didn't end up the way they did. "Human? It's better if we give in ourselves."

"Huh?" the human stared at the steering wheel, flabbergasted. "But what about Sideswipe? If Soundwave knows you're alive, even if I did reach my twin, Sideswipe will suffer for it!"

"But my brother took your twin!" the bot argued.

"Look- Sunstreaker-" Skyler said with a heave, "Whatever happened back there just happened. Alright? I don't blame Sideswipe at all, it's not his fault. Didn't we agree that we're going low profile?"

The Autobot growled, "You're safer with the Autobots as well!"

Skyler shook his head, "Even if we did get back with our twins, it doesn't solve how your spark isn't acting the way it should be to Sideswipe. What if your medic Ratchet doesn't know how to fix your condition? The only lead we have is Soundwave."

"Why are you so persistent, human?" Sunstreaker bickered back.

"Because both your lives are on the line, and the only way to fix it is to get the 'Con officer and beat the living hell out of him!" the con man said with fervor. "We've gone this far and still managed to keep ourselves hidden. I'm not backing out now, not when the mech that gave me the chance to get back at the Decepticons and is willing to keep me safe even though his own life is in danger because of spark tampering. As long the chance is there, I'll take it, and make it work."

If Sunstreaker was a human, he would probably choke in embarrassment with all he'd just heard.

_How could he have been such an idiot?_

_He let fear __get __to him!_

Sunstreaker was glad he'd met up with this stubborn human who was a con man.

_Did a human just remind me that there's always another way?_

_Pit, I'm giving up so easily. And I thought I was strong._

"Heh. Looks like my processors weren't working well, human," Sunstreaker admitted, none too easily. "I take my words back."

The young man smiled at the bot. "It's called freaking out, mech. We all have our times. You helped me, I help you back."

His human charge kept on surprising him as there was a warm feeling inside of his spark.

This time, the respect for him was there. Clear as day.

Afterwards, they managed to pull off a gag to get out of the barricade of soldiers by disguising themselves as a taxi and its driver. Sunstreaker didn't appreciate in changing into a crappy form like a taxi, but it worked, he complained as usual about his exterior. It wasn't to the point it made the human angry at him for it, as Skyler shrugged off his fussing easily on his current form.

It may seem harsh to other people that he didn't provide words of comfort to the human, but Skyler somehow knew that it was his way of saying, 'It's alright if you don't want to talk about it, let's focus on something else'. In turn, he talked about what they were going to do next as they had to leave the city and by his facial expression there was a sigh of relief with appreciation.

The rest of the drive to Topeka was in silence.

Yet there was respect.

Perhaps only this human was capable being his equal.

Sunstreaker now held an admiration for his charge in giving something that nearly all Cybertronians never gave him…

_True Respect._

* * *

><p><em>"You should never be surprised when someone treats you with respect,<em>

_you should expect it."_

_~ Sarah Dessen_

* * *

><p><strong>~ END ~<strong>

* * *

><p><em>This fic is for the Infantrum Colors Everywhere Challenge (c) Silent Afterglow with the prompt I chose was the color 'Purple' and theme as 'Respect'.<em>

**_"Respect_**_ _denotes both a positive feeling of esteem for a_ _person_ _of other entity (such as a nation or a religion), and also specific actions and conduct representative of that esteem. Respect can be a specific feeling of regard for the actual qualities of the one respected (e.g., "I have great respect for her judgment"). It can also be conduct in accord with a specific_ _ethic_ _of respect._ _Rude_ _conduct is usually considered to indicate a lack of respect,_ **_disrespect_**_, where as actions that honor somebody or something indicate respect.________________

_Respect__ _should not be confused with_ _tolerance, since tolerance doesn't necessarily imply any positive feeling, and is compatible with_ _contempt, which is the opposite of_ _respect." ________

_~ Wikipedia Encyclopedia._

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Well, there you go! A one shot of 'true respect'. What I was looking forward to was the idea of a respect that wasn't of fear or because Sunny is a warrior. I suppose my idea of respect in this fic is that you can just be there for a person and not say or do anything because sometimes that's enough. It was a bit difficult for me to cut down the words as I write a lot. Special thanks to Khalthar for pointing out what to cut out and checking any mistakes.

If anyone is interested in read what really happened in detail, the fic is again: A Twin for a Twin on my profile. For anyone who's read it before… well, I hoped you guys and girls enjoyed the additional bonus recap story.

Comments, opinions, and constructive suggestions? Please do! All you have to do is click the link to review this one-shot.

Till the next one-shot fic or chapter in my main fics…

Frenzi99 logging out.


End file.
